Sunday, December 30, 2012

We don't need a fancy excuse for a day trip to the desert. Especially this time of year, when the air is so crisp and the landscape ripe.

Saturday morning we decided to drive into Joshua Tree to stop by the weekly flea market, have lunch and visit a friend. Our cute tag along is a pal of Arlo's who use to live on our street. They stayed in contact since the move, and remain the very sweetest of friends. I love watching them together, how they interact, how they figure stuff out. Last night she hung around outside the door while he sat in the tub, telling him knock knock jokes and writing him letters. Too cute.

As for flea finds, there weren't any. Not for us. We walked away empty handed - save for the pile of unique wood sticks we gathered and one big rock Arlo found and wholeheartedly believes to be "real gold" (I'm not so sure. But I'm not about to tell him that)

The rest of the afternoon we spent visiting with our friend at her new home she and her husband are renovating deep in the desert. The kids ran around her big open lot, rode a sled down a dirt mountain and snacked on toasted almonds. It was a nice lunch date. Everything about the day was nice. But the desert rarely disappoints.

Saturday, December 29, 2012

I am just now getting around to downloading photos from our Christmas morning after finally finding my camera charger - which was misplaced in the afterwreck of Holiday glee.

We had a very nice Christmas. Three boys and lots of toys. We woke very early to Arlo's squeals over discovering what he found under the tree and swore he would "never get!" - An ipod. And then it wasn't long before all boys were racing down the stairs and tearing into presents. Admiring new remote control helicopters, hoping on wobbly bikes, and dumping stockings and balancing bowling pins until we had to finally pull ourselves together in order to make it to Mike's grandma's house in time for their mid day celebration. Between both of our families it was a bit chaotic and downright stressful (as is to be expected) - seemed we were constantly late, or pressured to get somewhere quicker than felt humanly possible. We made it. Late, but there. However, falling victim to pockets of traffic along the way, we started to fantasized about taking one year off, getting a cabin somewhere and enjoying one Christmas to ourselves, to move along as we please, open gifts and rest throughout the day. The reality of that actually happening is a long shot, it's true. But it's nice to dream.

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Another year, another super fun Christmas party with friends old & new spent mingling around tables full of snacks and a fire in the driveway. The highlight of the evening happening sometime well after midnight when my niece's friend Victoria sheepishly pulled out a guitar and completely blew us away with her insanely beautiful voice, her songs, and her authenticity. She is the real deal. And I'm willing to bet, a star in the making.

It was a good night. After a little rest & recovery nursing a slight hang-over (tinged with exhaustion) I'm off to finish up some last minute shopping. No matter how hard I try, I just can't get it together any sooner.